Systems and methods for creating an asynchronous social watching experience among users

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed herein for creating a co-watching experience among audience members who are physically apart when watching the media asset. A media guidance application may monitor a sound of the first user. In response to the sound being detected during the monitoring, the media guidance application may determine whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video. In response to determining that the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, the media guidance application may store the sound in connection with a timecode of the video corresponding to a time when the sound is detected. When the video is displayed to a second user, the sound of the first user may be played back based on the timecode of the video stored in connection with the sound. In this way, even if users are physically apart, or may watch a media asset at separate times, by sharing and playing back recorded vocal expression of a user, other users may perceive the vocal expression of the user to create a co-watching experience.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 generating for display a video to a first user; 
 monitoring for a sound of the first user; 
 in response to the sound being detected during the monitoring, determining, based on user physiological data, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video; and 
 in response to determining, based on the user physiological data, that the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, retrieving user application history corresponding to user device activities when the video is being played; 
 determining whether the sound is caused by an event associated with the first user from the user physiological data and the user application history; and 
 storing the sound in connection with a timecode of the video corresponding to a time when the sound is detected, 
 wherein, when the video is displayed to a second user, the sound of the first user is played back based on the timecode of the video stored in connection with the sound. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein monitoring for a sound of the first user comprises:
 retrieving, from a profile of the user, a set of vocal characteristics; and 
 determining that the sound is from the first user when a vocal characteristic from the set of vocal characteristics matches the sound. 
 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, further comprises:
 determining whether the sound includes one or more keywords; 
 retrieving metadata corresponding to the video; 
 comparing the retrieved metadata with the one or more keywords; and 
 determining, based on the comparing, that the sound is based on an occurrence in the video. 
 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, further comprises:
 retrieving metadata corresponding to the video; 
 retrieving a data graph representing a logic relationship between content terms relating to the video; and 
 determining that the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video when a word within the sound matches a content term relating to the video. 
 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining, based on user physiological data, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, further comprises:
 in response to determining that the sound is caused by the event associated with the first user from the user physiological data and the user application history, refraining from storing the sound. 
 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein, the when the video is displayed to the second user, the sound of the first user is played back based on the timecode of the video stored in connection with the sound, comprises:
 receiving an indication that the video is being played to the second user; 
 querying a user database for a user profile corresponding to the second user; 
 determining a connection between the first user and the second user based on the user profile corresponding to the second user. 
 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 retrieving a privacy setting profile corresponding to the first user; 
 determining whether the second user is an authorized user to share the sound from the first user by comparing the connection between the first user and the second user with the privacy setting profile; 
 in response to determining that the second user is the authorized user to share the sound from the first user, causing, when the video is displayed at the second time later than the first time to a second user, the stored sound to be played back based on the timecode. 
 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the second user is in a different household than the first user and wherein the sound is stored on a server. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 identifying a third user to whom the first user is an influencer based on a social profile of the third user; and 
 causing a notification indicating a title of the video and information relating to the sound from the first user to be transmitted to the third user. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 in response to the notification being sent to the third user, receiving a request to download the sound from the third user; and 
 causing an audio file containing the first user's sound and the time code to be sent to the third user. 
 
     
     
       11. A system comprising:
 a display configured to display a video for a first user; 
 a microphone configured to receive a sound of a first user; 
 storage circuitry; and 
 control circuitry configured to:
 monitor for the sound of the first user; 
 in response to the sound being detected during the monitoring, determine, based on user physiological data, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video; and 
 in response to determining, based on the user physiological data, that the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, retrieve user application history corresponding to user device activities when the video is being played; 
 determine whether the sound is caused by an event associated with the first user from the user physiological data and the user application history; and 
 store, on the storage circuitry, the sound in connection with a timecode of the video corresponding to a time when the sound is detected, 
 
 wherein, when the video is displayed to a second user, the sound of the first user is played back based on the timecode of the video stored in connection with the sound. 
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein monitoring for a sound of the first user comprises:
 retrieving, from a profile of the user, a set of vocal characteristics; and 
 determining that the sound is from the first user when a vocal characteristic from the set of vocal characteristics matches the sound. 
 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when determining, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, to:
 determine whether the sound includes one or more keywords; 
 retrieve metadata corresponding to the video; 
 compare the retrieved metadata with the one or more keywords; and 
 determine, based on the comparing, that the sound is based on an occurrence in the video. 
 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when determining, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, to:
 retrieve metadata corresponding to the video; 
 retrieve a data graph representing a logic relationship between content terms relating to the video; and 
 determine that the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video when a word within the sound matches a content term relating to the video. 
 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured, when determining, based on user physiological data, whether the first user emitted the sound based on an occurrence in the video, to:
 in response to determining that the sound is caused by the event associated with the first user from the user physiological data and the user application history, refrain from storing the-sound. 
 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein, the control circuitry is further configured, when the video is displayed to the second user, the sound of the first user is played back based on the timecode of the video stored in connection with the sound, to:
 receive an indication that the video is being played to the second user; 
 query a user database for a user profile corresponding to the second user; and 
 determine a connection between the first user and the second user based on the user profile corresponding to the second user. 
 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 16 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 retrieve a privacy setting profile corresponding to the first user; 
 determine whether the second user is an authorized user to share the sound from the first user by comparing the connection between the first user and the second user with the privacy setting profile; and 
 in response to determining that the second user is the authorized user to share the sound from the first user, cause, when the video is displayed at the second time later than the first time to a second user, the stored sound to be played back based on the timecode. 
 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the second user is in a different household than the first user and wherein the sound is stored on a server. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 identify a third user to whom the first user is an influencer based on a social profile of the third user; and 
 cause a notification indicating a title of the video and information relating to the sound from the first user to be transmitted to the third user. 
 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19 , wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:
 in response to the notification being sent to the third user, receive a request to download the sound from the third user; and
 cause an audio file containing the first user's sound and the time code to be sent to the third user.